Stranded floating power plant, a post-tsunami tourist site

Fadli The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

It took Mirza and her family three hours to reach Punge Blang Cut village in Banda Aceh, but they went anyway.

They traveled from Sigli in the Pidie district for one reason, to see with their own eyes a stranded floating power plant, the PLTD Apung 1, which was swept inland by the giant waves when the tsunami hit Aceh on Dec. 26 last year.

Owned by state electricity company PT PLN, the barge now sits in the center of the residential area.

"My parents took me here. We did plan to come to Banda Aceh to see how the town was after the disaster and I was told that there was a stranded barge. When I finally saw it, I was shocked. How could such a big barge get here," asked 17-year-old Mirza, pointing to the 3,600 ton vessel.

As if visiting a tourist site, Mirza, her sister and parents, posed for a picture with the barge in the background.

The family was not alone in their "tour" of the tsunami-hit city -- a group of 10 women also from Pidie were also seen at the site.

"We came just to see whether it was true a big barge was stranded right in the city center because of the tsunami," said one of the woman, Aminah.

These women came to Banda Aceh by public bus and reached the village by pick-up van.

"We want to see how Banda Aceh is now," Aminah said.

Several buildings around the area were still left standing, but many more have been flattened.

Mursalin, operator of the barge's diesel machinery, said that since the roads around the stranded barge were cleared, many residents came by to take a closer look. They included people from nearby regions.

He said the barge should actually be anchored off Ulee Lheue, some 3 kilometers from its present position. The barge served as a diesel-generated electricity power plant with production capacity of 10.5 Megawatts for Banda Aceh and its surrounding area.

"I'm a little bit worried about the many people smoking (around the barge) because the diesel fuel tank is leaking. If we tell them not to smoke around the barge they get angry. Maybe they don't realize that this could cause an explosion," Mursalin said.

The boat, which began service in Aceh in mid-2003, was made in 1997 by Tongkang Mas Jaya, a Batam shipyard.

"At the time of the disaster, the barge was working as usual, with 17 working officers. Only six of them survived. After the disaster, the machine is still working," Mursalin said.

He said the stranded barge caused controversy between the Aceh government, which wanted to keep it in its present location as a monument of the tsunami, and the electricity company.

"PLN wanted the barge to be put back in the sea so it could generate electricity... but I don't know which decision will be taken," Mursalin said.

Now, Mursalin's job is not to monitor the barge's machinery as he used to but to guide visitors who want to look at the barge.

"There are more and more people coming in, especially on weekends. If the barge will be moved back to the sea, I don't know how they will do it."